Of Sickness, Bets and Revelations
by tika12001
Summary: Jane is sick, and Maura looks after her. It all starts from there. Now complete :-)
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Of Sickness, Bets and Revelations**

**Author: tika12001**

**Rating: PG**

**Disclaimer: not mine, etc etc. If they were mine, Jane and Maura would be kissing and I would be happy.**

_Authors note: OMG I wrote a story, a fairly long story too! Okay, it's not as long as what I usually get half way through and then lose interest in, but I FINISHED it, and this is PROGRESS. :-D I'm so proud. I'll be posting one chapter a day :-)_

Maura Isles was ready to go. A big smile lit up her face as she jogged over to her best friend's house, ready for their morning run. Finally reaching her door, she jogged in place as she rapped smartly with her knuckles, starting to run in small, tight circles as she waited for Jane Rizzoli to come out, perhaps not as eager but still ready to go. There was no answer to her knock however, and so she knocked again. When there was no answer yet again, and no hint of movement behind the door, Maura stopped jogging, cocking her head on the side in thought even as she panted slightly. With a triumphant smile, she pulled out her keys, sorted through them and found the one for Jane's door, letting herself inside.

The first thing that hit her was a wave of overly warm, slightly pungent air. Maura's gaze furrowed in consternation as she took a deep breath and crossed the threshold. "Jane?" she called out. There was no response, so Maura headed over to Jane's bedroom door. She knocked on it three times, opened it, and immediately wrinkled up her nose at the immediate strong smell of sick that wafted out. "Jane?" she called again, peering through the darkness towards the bed, upon which stood what looked like some kind of blanket formed tent. Maura wondered vaguely why Jane was making a tent out of blankets when she was a) an adult, b) indoors and therefore not in any need of a tent for shelter or protection, especially one made out of such flimsy material as a simple blanket (wool, cotton or fleece are perfectly wonderful items for use in warming the body; however they would provided only minimal protection in the elements) and c) apparently quite unwell, when she realized that the 'tent' was actually Jane, curled up under what appeared to be every single blanket she owned. "Oh no," Maura mumbled, heading over to the bed on tiptoes while Jane moaned pitifully at her.

"Are you sick?" Maura asked when she reached the side of the bed, looking down at the very pale face of her friend.

Jane opened one eye and glared up at Maura. Maura noticed that that one eye was very bloodshot, and mused that the burst and irritated blood vessels were perhaps caused by the force of the vomit she had obviously been forced to expel from her body. "No, I'm hunky dory. Ready to go for a run?"

"Oh, well I don't think that is a good idea. Based on the amount of blankets you have decided to place over your body and the fact that you are still shivering, you are most decidedly running a temperature. I have also judged this..."

"Maura," Jane interrupted softly, holding back a cough.

"...based on the fact that you have the heater running, even though the weather outside is quite pleasant, although I have not physically checked your temperature yet. Also, the smell that wafted out of your room..."

"Maura," more forcefully this time, though still soft.

"...indicates that you have been rather ill in the last twelve hours, which will mean you will be extremely dehydrated. Also your complexion is rather worrying to me, as you..."

"Maura!" louder this time, but still Maura continued, lost in her train of thought.

"...are rather pale and pasty, thereby indicating influenza like symptoms as your body has decided to transport the blood elsewhere in your body in order to fight your illness. I suggest that before we do any running, you stay in bed for a minimum of three days, keep warm, have soup, and drink plenty of..."

"MAURA!"

"...water," Maura finished lamely, biting her lip and looking down at Jane's bedspread, gently playing with a corner of it.

"Thank you Maura, but please don't do the Google mouth thing when I'm too sick to yell at you properly."

"Why would you yell at me?" Maura asked, her eyes wide and slightly hurt as she jerked her head up to stare at Jane.

"I wouldn't! I mean... I would... but... ohhh," Jane suddenly stopped and groaned, clutching at her stomach. Maura leapt back from the bed.

"Uh oh! Uh oh! Uh oh! Bucket! Bucket, bucket, bucket!" she cried, gesticulating wildly towards the bucket placed alongside the bed. Jane swept it up and thrust her head down into it. Maura crinkled up her nose at the sounds coming from her best friend but sat down on the bed next to her with a couple of tissues in her hand anyway. When Jane finished, Maura handed her the tissues and gingerly took the bucket away, moving into the bathroom to tip it out and disinfect it, afterwards washing her hands thoroughly. She walked back into the room with the bucket, coming back just in time to see Jane hawking up some phlegm into a tissue. "Eww!" she cried, watching the tissue's descent as it sailed over the edge of the bed and hit the wastepaper basket with amazing accuracy.

"What?" Jane moaned, falling back on the bed and throwing an arm over her eyes.

"I don't like phlegm," Maura replied delicately, placing the bucket back in its original position and perching on the edge of the bed again. Jane moved her arm so she could look at Maura through one eye.

"You're kidding me."

"What?"

"You cut up dead people for a living, you just got rid of my puke without grimacing, and PHLEGM freaks you out?"

"Well," Maura said, a slight frown forming on her face, "it's just so green... and wobbly. It's like jello. Except it's creepier."

Jane groaned at the word wobbly and put her arm back over her eyes, but moved it again at the word creepier. "You don't like jello?"

"I didn't say that."

"You practically did. What's wrong with jello?"

Maura opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, then stood up and headed to the bathroom. "I'm going to grab the thermometer and check your temperature."

"What's wrong with jello?" Jane asked again, and Maura took the opportunity to shove the recently acquired thermometer into her mouth.

"No talking," she ordered bossily. Jane rolled her eyes but obeyed, waiting for the beep that indicated she was free to talk again. When it came, Maura immediately whipped the thermometer out and checked the temp, raising her eyebrows slightly. "Huh. 102. Definitely a high temperature but not too bad for the moment, we don't need to go to the hospital or anything unless it rises above 104, 105... Have you had any medicine to bring your temperature down?"

"I'm hot, baby," Jane moaned, closing her eyes. She opened them again when she sensed Maura moving closer and almost jumped when she saw that Maura was only about a foot away from her face, frowning at her. The only thing that forced her to stay still was the thought of what her evil, rebellious stomach might do to her if she moved.

"Are you delirious?" Maura asked seriously.

"Am I... hey!"

"Just checking," Maura said, already moving back over to Jane's bathroom. Judging by the sounds, Maura was opening cupboards and inspecting Jane's somewhat mediocre first aid materials. "Really, Jane? This is all you have?" Maura called out. Jane flapped her arm in Maura's general direction. "Aha!" Maura came out of the bathroom holding a glass of water and a couple of tablets. "Sit up and take these," she ordered, then, as an afterthought, "please."

"You are so the bossy one in this relationship," Jane mumbled, even as she slowly levered herself up. She stared at the tablets as though they were guilty of some secret sinister agenda.

"Jane, you will not get well if you don't take these. If you vomit again, I will give you more in a couple of hours," Maura paused, "Unless you vomit immediately of course. Just take them."

Jane's shoulders slumped, she pouted, but she held her hand out for the tablets and the water, gulping them down. There was one precarious moment where she lunged for the bucket while her stomach heaved dangerously, but ultimately they stayed down. At least for the time being. "Thanks," she mumbled, falling back against the pillows.

"You're welcome. And I am not the bossy one."

"Oh, you so are," Jane answered sleepily as her eyelids grew heavy.

When Jane next came to full consciousness, it was to the sounds of birds chirping merrily outside. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, noticing as she did so that somehow since she had fallen asleep, her bed sheets and blankets had been changed as well as her sleep clothes. She also noticed that, while she still felt terrible, she did feel a bit better, and... there were noises in the kitchen. She crawled out of bed and tiptoed over to her clothes, feeling for her gun. There was the holster, but it was empty. "Shit!" she mumbled, turning around to look at the corner where she kept her baseball bat. It was gone as well. She frowned, deciding to creep to the kitchen to see what was going on.

Unfortunately, that plan worked well under normal circumstances, but it's not such a great plan when you've been as ill as she had been. She made it halfway down the hall before she bumped into one wall, another quarter before she bumped into another, and then took half a step and promptly ended up falling down on her ass in the kitchen doorway. So much for the stealthy approach. Fortunately for Jane though, it was just Maura in the kitchen, seemingly cooking up enough food for an army of soldiers.

"Hi!" she said chirpily, as though Jane hadn't just made an ass of herself in front of her. "You should be in bed."

"I don't want to be in bed. My sheets are gross and sweaty," Jane mumbled, hauling herself to her feet and stumbling over to a chair, flopping down into it. As she did so, she noticed the gun and baseball bat placed neatly on the table in the corner of the room... probably so she wouldn't accidentally shoot herself or Maura as she stumbled out to see what was happening in the kitchen. Or give herself a concussion with the bat somehow.

Maura frowned and stopped cutting the 17 bajillion vegetables she had piled in front of her. Jane noticed she was wearing what looked like a 50's style red and black tight dress, along with a bright red apron, and, of course, killer red stilettos. "Your sheets shouldn't be gross and sweaty; I changed them for you last night."

Jane looked down at herself pointedly. Maura pointed at her with the knife. "That was your mother."

"Oh," Jane nodded, then suddenly looked around frantically. "Ma's here?"

"No, I sent her home this morning."

"Oh," Jane relaxed. It wasn't that she didn't love her mother, it was just that she tended to get very hover-y and over-the-top-y when one of her kids was sick. "Wait, what day is it?"

"Tuesday. 4pm. Oh, actually, 4:02," Maura lifted up her shoulders briefly, curling her lips at Jane.

"But we were supposed to go running on Sunday."

"Yes, we were," Maura nodded in answer, sliding a pile of neatly cut vegetables into a large pot.

Jane stared at her. "Maura! What happened?"

Maura frowned and looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"How did it get to Tuesday, Maura?" Jane asked, almost frantic.

"Oh! You were sick. You were asleep most of the time. Your mother looked after Bass for me, and I've been staying here. I called us both in sick for the whole week. You need the rest, and I need to make sure you're eating properly."

"You called in sick too? Maura, you can't lie." Maura mumbled something under her breath. "What was that?" Jane asked.

Maura busied herself cutting up the carrot, finally responding after a few minutes. "They can't see my hives over the phone," she said, shame-facedly. "And I practiced my breathing beforehand so I wouldn't pass out while talking. I may have gotten light headed afterwards though," she added in a mumble.

Jane gaped at her like a fish for a few seconds, finally laying her head on her arms and laughing slightly. After a minute she raised her head and looked at the enormous pot that was currently simmering away on her stove with about a bajillion vegetables in it. "So, exactly how many people are we having over for dinner?"

"Just you and me," Maura replied, scraping yet more vegetables into the pot.

"So why are you making enough food for the whole Boston police force and their dogs?"

Maura paused in stirring the vegetables. "I... oh. I suppose it is a bit much, isn't it."

"Uh, yeah," Jane replied, rolling her eyes even as a smile played about her lips.

"I... I just wanted you to get well, and you haven't eaten, except for the crackers your mother force fed you and you need to eat something other than crackers, so I went out and I bought vegetables and chicken so I could make chicken soup."

"That's great Maura, but isn't chicken soup good for colds and flu's? I had a vomiting bug."

"Ah!" Maura said, and a smile lit up her face, "Well, yes, it appeared as though you did, but you were also obviously suffering from some nasal congestion as well as an abnormally large amount of viscid mucus being excreted from the respiratory tract. This indicates that while you certainly had some gastrointestinal... unpleasantness, the effects of that may have been caused by an influenza bug, which would also explain the high temperatures and muscle soreness you complained of."

"I don't remember muscle soreness."

Maura nodded, "Well, you were pretty out of it. Not enough to stop complaining of course, but..." she laughed, but faltered as she caught Jane's glaring gaze, rapidly changing topic, "Anyway, did you know that chicken broth was actually considered a restorative in the ancient world? It was believed that the thin consistency of broth would be easier to digest, thereby kinder on the stomachs of the ill person or persons; additionally the colour is similar to human complexion, so it was consequently considered nourishing. Isn't that fascinating?"

"Unbelievably fascinating," Jane dead-panned.

Maura smiled brightly, not noticing the sarcasm, and continued her speech. "Well, whatever the cause of the original belief, it survived into the Middle Ages, particularly noted throughout the Mediterranean and Western Europe. Moslems and Jews were particularly taken with the beliefs of the healing powers of chicken broth. In fact, it is sometimes known as the 'Jewish Penicillin'," Maura laughed slightly even as she bent down again to focus on her careful and concise vegetable cuttings.

Jane groaned and let her head thump down onto her arms again. "Please stop," she requested into her arms.

Maura frowned. "I thought you were interested."

"I've just had..." Jane paused as she considered, "four days of gastrointestinal '_unpleasantness'_, headaches, high temperatures, and, apparently, muscle soreness, I don't really feel like being heralded with the entire history of the chicken!"

"Chicken broth, actually."

"What?"

"You said 'chicken', but I was only talking of chicken broth."

Jane threw her hands up in the air. "Whatever!"

"Also, three days."

"Huh?"

"You said you had gastrointestinal issues for four days, it was only three. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, which is today," Maura counted off on her fingers brightly. Jane splayed her hands flat on the counter and leaned forward.

"It started on Saturday," Jane stated smugly, then leant back slightly. Her eyes widened though as Maura turned to her with sad eyes.

"Why didn't you call me?"

"I... I..." Jane spluttered, "I was kinda a little bit busy with my head in a toilet in case you hadn't noticed!"

"Still," Maura said, sliding yet more vegetables into the now steaming pot and stirring the contents. Jane swore she could see a slight pout on her lips, "I would have come over."

"But I couldn't call," Jane replied slowly and carefully, as though she was speaking to a toddler rather than the incredibly intelligent woman in front of her, "I was too busy puk... ah forget it. I'm going back to bed."

"I'll join you soon."

Jane stopped in her slow and painful journey across the floor (apparently, the muscle soreness wasn't quite gone yet. Or perhaps the soreness was from her spectacular failure of sneaking down the hallway earlier) and turned around slowly with one eyebrow raised.

Maura put her head on the side as though confused as to why Jane was staring at her. She appeared to think back over the most recent things said, quickly adding. "With the soup! With the soup, I mean. I will join you when the soup is ready so you can eat it."

Jane nodded slowly, feeling a smile curve her lips as she started the painful shuffle back to her delightful (and not gross or sweaty at all, Maura was right) bed. Maybe it wasn't so bad being sick after all.

END CHAPTER ONE

_Please review :-)_


	2. Chapter 2

The week passed slowly for Jane and Maura. While Jane had no further stomach issues, she was left very weak from her nasty bug, and Maura bustled about her like a mother hen, feeding her things that contained the words 'organic' or 'free-range', every so often regaling her with the history of whatever she was eating. Jane complained about it, but secretly she was very glad that Maura was there to take care of her. She knew that if she hadn't been, her diet would have consisted of mainly dry, sugary cereals, crackers or whatever her mother bought over. Speaking of Angela, she had come over a couple of times during the week but not nearly as often as she normally would have, and she didn't stay as long as she normally would have either. Jane suspected Maura's presence had something to do with that... Angela felt confident her daughter was in good hands with a doctor present 24/7. Jane was grateful for this; while she loved her mother, she could be very overwhelming too.

Soon enough however, Jane's days of lounging around on the sofa and watching movies with Maura (well, watching half a movie then falling asleep and drooling on Maura's shoulder) were over; it was Monday and time to go back to work. Jane got up and pulled on her regular outfit, long black pants, a plain blue t-shirt and finally, her belt around her hips with the holster attached. She felt good, ready to go back to the job she loved. Okay, so maybe she felt a little bit dizzy, so what? And maybe the belt had to be done up a couple of notches tighter than usual, but that was fine too. Also, there was the slight factor to be considered that the simple act of getting dressed had exhausted her and she was now staring at the space between the bed and the door as though she was going to have to conquer Everest to cross it, but whatever. She was heading back to work. It was fine. It was great in fact. If only she could get her legs to work properly...

Maura walked into the room, looking as stunning as ever in a silky teal shirt and a black skirt. Jane looked up at her and whined in the back of her throat a little bit pathetically. Maura smiled brightly. "You're on half days this week. Desk duty."

"What?!" Jane exclaimed.

"Doctor's orders," Maura added.

"But... no, I'm fine. I can go back to normal duties." Maura simply raised an eyebrow at her. Jane floundered and stammered, eventually conceding, "Thanks Maura."

Maura picked up her handbag. "I will see you there."

Jane frowned at her. "We aren't going together?"

"No. I told them you might be a bit late today."

Jane propped her hands on her hips. "Why would I be late?"

Maura looked at her for a minute, and then cocked her head on the side as though considering. Suddenly she plunged her hand into her handbag, pulling out a compact mirror. She opened it and held it up so Jane could see her reflection. Maura heard the gasp of horror and smiled a little bit. "There's some detangling spray in the cabinet for you. Work up from the bottom sections of your hair." The last part was half shouted as Jane darted (well, darted as fast as she could, which is to say, Bass could have beaten her, but still) into the bathroom, hands firmly clasped on the rats nest that had so recently taken up residence on her head. "Bye Jane!" Maura called out as she left, hearing Jane's curses as she impatiently tried to work out the tangles, and Maura could almost guarantee that she was trying to do it from the top down. How she managed to keep her curly hair long for this many years, Maura had no idea.

_R&IR&IR&I_

When Maura walked into the building at work, she was confronted by the sight of Cavanaugh, Frost and Korsak appearing to be deep in conversation. As she approached, Cavanaugh caught sight of her, and nodded politely.

"Dr. Isles, are you feeling better?"

Maura floundered for a second. "I am feeling quite good today, thank you sir."

"Was it the flu you had? It's been going around."

"Uh, yes, it is a particularly bad outbreak this year." Maura did not notice the look that Frost and Korsak exchanged. She was also too wracked with nerves to notice that even Cavanaugh looked slightly, but most definitely, a bit mischievous.

"And Jane's had it too," a statement, not a question but Maura answered it gratefully, feeling as though she didn't have to avoid a lie this time.

"Yes, she has been very unwell."

Cavanaugh nodded thoughtfully. "Well, glad to see you back. Jane will be in later, I assume?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good," Cavanaugh stated, walking away. Frost rounded on Maura.

"You lied!"

Maura looked horrified. "I did not!"

"Yes you did, you lied by omission. You weren't sick at all last week, were you?"

"Leave the poor woman alone, she's going to get hives," Korsak said, approaching. His gaze dropped to Maura's neck, upon which a red blotchy rash was appearing. "Or she's already got them."

Maura grabbed her throat immediately, gasping in horror. "Oh!"

Frost laughed, until Maura looked up at him with big sad eyes. He abruptly stopped. "Come on, Maura. Everyone knows you took the week off to look after Jane. No one cares. And, okay, technically you didn't lie."

"Yeah, it was very sweet," Korsak added. When Frost looked at him, he added: "The fact that she took time off! And no, technically you did not lie."

"I didn't?" Maura asked. When both men shook their heads, she repeated herself: "No, I didn't. He asked if I was feeling better, I stated I was quite well. He then asked if I had the flu, I... neglected to answer him and instead replied to his other statement, phrasing it as though I was answering both... oh God..."

Maura's breaths started coming in short sharp bursts and Korsak elbowed Frost hard. "Ow!"

"You started it, now fix it," Korsak said, pointing at Maura who was now 'hee-hee-haw-haw'-ing in an effort to control her breathing.

"Fine," Frost rolled his eyes. "So Maura... uh... how's Jane going?"

Maura, who had bent over with her hands on her knees, looked up at him. "She's _(hee-hee)_ much better _(haw haw)_. Still tired _(hee hee)_ and sore _(haw haw)_ but much better."

"She, uh... didn't have pneumonia or something did she? Cause I had an aunt who was diagnosed with the flu but it turned out she had pneumonia and..."

"Oh... no!" Maura said, standing up straight and frowning at Frost. "No no no. Generally influenza presents itself with high temperatures of 102 or over (Jane got up to 104 at one point!), nausea, fatigue, and muscle aching. While pneumonia can present itself with many of the same or similar symptoms..."

"Good job, buddy," Korsak mumbled to Frost, looking at Maura's neck where the hives were already settling down as she talked. Frost smiled at him briefly, but quickly turned his attention back to Maura.

"... it also presents itself with an extreme deep chest ache, and blood flecked mucus, or even just blood often appears when the patient has been coughing. While I am not a fan of," Maura took a moment to school her face into a look of discreet disgust, "mucus... I took the liberty of examining Jane's tissues and saw no evidence of any blood. Or reddish-brown stains," she added drily.

"Blood doesn't always have to be present for pneumonia to be diagnosed though does it?" Frost asked.

"What are you doing, she's fine now!" Korsak mumbled in his ear.

"Payback for giving me the Sampson woman to interview last week," Frost mumbled back, then looked at Maura, pasting an 'I-am-completely-fascinated' look on his face as she chatted, but shooting a satisfied smirk sideways at Korsak.

"Well, no. The best way for pneumonia to be diagnosed is through a chest x-ray."

"But you're certain Jane didn't have it?" Frost asked. Korsak gasped.

"You snuck her in here to do a chest x-ray on her, didn't you?!"

Maura flushed. "Only the once... and I'm pretty sure she doesn't even remember it."

Frost gaped at her. "When?"

"Monday night," Maura said in a small voice, pushing the down button on the elevator.

Korsak laughed. "Well Dr Isles, first tagging and now breaking and entering. Do we have a criminal on our hands here?"

"I didn't break! I used my key. I unlocked and entered."

Korsak stared at her with one eyebrow raised until Maura huffed out a laugh. "I just wanted to make sure Jane was okay, and she wouldn't let me take her to the hospital. Okay?"

"Jane's very lucky to have you," Korsak murmured, suddenly serious.

"No... I'm the lucky one," Maura answered softly. At that moment the elevator arrived and 'ding'-ed open. Maura stepped inside, a small smile playing about her lips. She didn't see the knowing look that passed between Frost and Korsak, and wouldn't have understood it if she had.

END CHAPTER TWO

_Please review :-)_


	3. Chapter 3

_**You guys are getting this chapter a few hours earlier than I planned to put it up, cause apparently my body hates me and decided to force me to stay up and puke all night long. I have a newfound respect for Jane... I just wish I had a Maura to look after me! :-P**_

*Monday morning, the day of Jane and Maura's return to work. Approximately five minutes prior to Maura walking in the door*

Frost and Korsak were standing in the front entrance way chatting, when Cavanaugh approached. He had his usual serious look on his face, but Korsak could see a look of something – could it be mischief? – about his eyes and wondered what was going on.

"Frost, Korsak. I want your expert opinions on something."

Frost and Korsak frowned at each other in confusion but agreed easily. "What do you need, sir? Frost asked.

"Do you think our Chief Medical Examiner was really ill last week?"

"Dr Isles?" Korsak asked, then gaped his mouth like a goldfish for a few seconds. "Uh... I know Jane has been very ill..."

"Yes, yes," Cavanaugh nodded, waving his hand as though shooing off a pesky fly, "I know that too, Detective Rizzoli has been very sick but I am wondering about Dr Isles."

Frost and Korsak looked at each other. "What are you planning to do," Frost eventually asked, "with whatever we tell you?"

Cavanaugh appeared to consider this. "If you tell me that you genuinely believe Dr Isles to have been ill also, I will leave it at that. If, however, you tell me that you think she took the week off to look after Detective Rizzoli, as is my suspicion..." Cavanaugh looked around him, then leaned in closer, lowering his voice, "then I may be interested in offering you a wager."

"A bet?" Korsak half shouted. Cavanaugh shut his eyes slowly, a look of great suffering on his face as Frost shushed Korsak even more loudly.

"Yes, Detective Korsak, a bet, as you so eloquently put it."

"What do you have in mind, sir?" Frost asked quietly.

"What would you think if I were to wager that those two women finally come to their senses after, say... 6 weeks at least?"

Korsak and Frost snuck a sidelong look at each other.

"Come to their senses, sir?" Korsak inquired carefully.

Cavanaugh rolled his eyes shut then sighed. "Became a couple."

"Oh, until they hook up, you mean," Frost added helpfully.

"Really, that's what you call it?" Korsak said, looking at Frost.

"What?"

"Until they hook up," Korsak sing-songed.

"Oh and I suppose you'd call it 'falling in luuurve'."

"Falling in love sounds a damn sight better than hooking up!"

"Pfft, only to a fruit loop..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"I have been married to three women, thank you, and..."

"Oh yes, and divorced three times, how could I forget?"

"Well, yes, exactly! So I am not a fruit loop!"

"Who called you a fruit loop?"

"You did!"

"Did not."

"You did too, I heard it."

"You haven't got any proof I said it."

"But you did."

"Maybe you were hearing things because you're the one falling in luuurve."

"Or maybe you're jealous because while other people are falling in love, you're simply 'hooking up'."

"At least I'm still able to 'hook up'. What about you over there, is your pecker getting ready to fall off from lack of use anytime soon? Wait, can you even still see that thing?"

"A real man doesn't need to see it to be able to use it."

"Sure, sounds like a 'real' fat man's excuse."

"I am not fat. I just have extra protection for... warmth. And comfort. Women like big muscly men."

"How on earth did you get three women to marry YOU then?"

"How do you guys get any work done?" Cavanaugh interrupted finally. He had been staring between the two of them, bouncing his head from one to the other as though watching a tennis match and now looked slightly shell-shocked.

Korsak's and Frost's jaws clamped audibly shut as they turned to stare rather guiltily at their boss.

"Jane usually stops us before we get too into it," Frost admits shamefully.

"Yeah, that, or she scorches us with a real zinger that shuts us both up," Korsak added and the two men grinned at each other.

"Right, yes, Detective Rizzoli. What do you guys think? 6 weeks? Does that sound good?"

Frost and Korsak exchanged a look. "We'd have to consider it, sir, but I think we can stand to take that bet," Frost eventually stated.

"What makes you think it won't happen before 6 weeks though?" Korsak asked, and Cavanaugh considered.

"Have you seen how deeply in denial those two are? I'm betting it will take at_ least_ two _months_."

"How much are you preparing to wager?" Frost now, staring at Cavanaugh with a thoughtful look on his face.

"$100," Cavanaugh stated firmly.

Korsak and Frost looked at each other then both nodded. "I think we can accept that. So, if it takes more than 6 weeks, we will give you your money. However, if it takes less than 6 weeks, you have to give us $100."

"Correct," Cavanaugh agreed.

All three men nodded and almost reached out to shake on it, but at that moment Dr Maura Isles walked through the door. Cavanaugh shot Frost and Korsak a small smirk, before turning to ask Maura how she was feeling.

Shortly after his conversation with Maura ended, theirs began, and it ended with Korsak saying that Jane was lucky to have Maura, and Maura replying that she, Maura, was the lucky one. As soon as the elevator door closed, Korsak rounded on Frost. "We are soon going to be $100 richer my friend."

"You really think so?" Frost asked, staring at the elevator doors that had so recently spirited Maura away. "I mean, yes, she said she was lucky, but she didn't exactly seem love struck or anything."

"Believe me; they just spent an entire week together. The first part of it would have been pretty boring, guaranteed..."

"Except for the vomiting."

"Yes, except for the vomiting. But after that, can't you just picture it? Jane wouldn't allow herself to be molly coddled in her actual bed unless she was too ill to protest otherwise. As soon as she was able to move around by herself, I'm betting she wanted to sit on the couch and watch movies."

"And she would have talked Maura into sitting with her to warm her up," Frost added, getting into Korsak's thought process.

"As she still would have had temperatures and was probably all shivery."

"And no way, as sick as she was, that she would have been able to stay awake during a whole two hour movie..."

"So she probably fell asleep curled up against Maura!"

"Who of course wouldn't have pushed her away, because, well, it's Maura..."

"...and it's Jane!" Korsak added, and both men looked at each other, their shared glee almost palpable. Korsak snapped his fingers. "We need to get more people involved in this bet."

"What?" Frost gasped, feeling rather shocked. Sure, he and Korsak saw what was between Jane and Maura, but that was only because they worked with them both. Surely no one else would have seen enough evidence to care placing bets? And didn't they owe it to their friends to not spread rumours about them?

Before Frost could even begin to formulate the words to potentially bring these thoughts to life, Korsak was already arguing them back. "We only involve those that have already expressed their doubts as to the true nature of their relationship. People we can trust not to blab around the office. We warn them that if they divulge the nature of the wager to any uninvolved party, their money and any potential winnings they may have gotten will have been immediately forfeited, the original bet kept by us as punishment. What do you think?"

"I think I'm in," a voice came from behind them, and both Frost and Korsak jumped guiltily, turning around in full expectation of seeing Detective Jane Rizzoli in the flesh. Well, it was a Rizzoli, just not the female one.

"Frankie?" Frost asked blankly.

"That's me. I'm most definitely in. But I think you guys are going to be out a fair bit of money. No way will those two get their heads out of their asses in less than 6 weeks."

"How much you willing to bet on that?" Korsak immediately jumped in, pulling a small notepad and a pen out of his pocket, flipping the pad open and holding the pen over it expectantly.

"Tell you what, I'll go $150. I look forward to seeing my winnings boys," Frankie grinned, and jumped in the nearest elevator. Just before the door shut he yelled out, "Pretty sure Ma will want a piece of the action too!"

Frost and Korsak grinned at each other. This could be very interesting.

END CHAPTER THREE

_Please review :-)_


	4. Chapter 4

More than three weeks later, Frost and Korsak were beginning to feel a little bit desperate. Maura stayed with Jane for a few more days until Jane was at full function again, afterwards moving back to her own home. The two men could practically see the smirks and hear the I-told-you-so's in every betting cop's passive, silent face... it was just something about the eyes. Frost felt a spark of hope however, when he heard Jane and Maura discussing their usual Friday night plans, but on the following Monday his hopes were dashed when the two appeared to be as in-denial as ever.

So far, they now had a total of 22 police officers, morgue assistants, office delivery boys and detective's mothers betting against them, summing up to a total of just over $5000. Turns out that Cavanaugh and Frankie had made two of the smallest bets of the lot.

"I do not have $2500 to pay out to a bunch of cops over a bet!" Frost declared stoutly one day.

"We are not going to lose," Korsak said, turning away from Frost as though to assert his confidence in the matter.

"It's been more than three weeks already. We have two weeks and five days left, AND we're in the middle of a homicide. What makes you so sure?"

Korsak pursed his lips and hesitated for a minute. "Well, you know what we're going to have to do?" he asked, turning to Frost slowly.

"What?"

"We're going to have to get involved," Korsak whispered confidentially.

"We can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"That's... that's illegal. Messing with a bet to ensure the odds of winning are in our favour."

"Fine, slap a pair of cuffs on us both," Korsak huffed, then leaned in. "Look, it's not as though it's a horse race we're betting on or anything, it's just a friendly competition between some work pals and ourselves. And the fact is, if we win, our two colleagues get to be that much happier that much sooner. Really, it's a win-win all round."

"Except for the people who have to pay us out money you mean."

"Yes, well... I wasn't talking about them."

Frost gave him a look, and looked around the office. Jane wasn't up there at the moment. She was getting sick that they'd found nothing of assistance in this homicide and so had headed downstairs to see Maura. He remembered the way her eyes seemed to light up when she said where she was headed, and that thought alone made up his mind. "Fine. What do you suggest?"

Korsak started talking in Frost's ear, and Frost felt a grin break out on his face. This could work.

_R&IR&IR&I_

Jane had just headed upstairs for a cup of coffee when Frost wandered into the morgue. Maura still had a smile playing about her lips as she replayed their last conversation in her head, but the smile quickly turned into a look of confusion as she stared at Frost (who was resolutely looking everywhere but at the body on the table).

"Hey doc."

"Detective Frost?" Maura asked, looking completely baffled.

"How's it going?" Frost asked, feigning nonchalance as he leaned against the wall of the morgue and crossed his arms. His foot tapped incessantly, and his eye was twitching. Maura studied him for a minute with her head on the side.

"You're showing signs of nerves Detective Frost, is everything okay?" A thought entered her mind that made her eyes go large with sudden fright. "Is Jane okay?"

"Jane's fine, and I'm not nervous," Frost said, huffing out a laugh and forcibly stopping his foot from tapping as he gazed off to the side at the blank wall. Maura's eyes narrowed as she studied him. With a sigh, she peeled off her gloves and walked over to him.

"Crossing of the arms across the chest signifies a defensive position; it is indicative that a person is feeling vulnerable or prone to attack, but it can also symbolise a sense of dishonesty within the person. Your foot was tapping momentarily: it has stopped now and I suspect that that is because you recognised the sign of nerves and/or dishonesty within yourself and forced it to stop. However, a foot tapping, hands waving uncharacteristically or any other unnecessary fidgeting indicates that the muscles are tense. This can be due to anxiety disorders of course, but since you have shown absolutely no prior signs of an anxiety disorder to this point, I think it is safe to assume that that is not it. Finally, you appear to be finding it very difficult to maintain eye contact with me. That can also be indicative of an anxiety disorder, or a neural disorder such as Autism, but again, I think it can be safe to assume that that is not the case here as again, you have shown no prior signs of either of these. So please, Detective Frost, tell me, what has bought you down to my morgue?"

Frost stared at Maura wildly. The brilliant plan he had concocted with Korsak upstairs suddenly seemed less brilliant, more supremely stupid. This woman was an actual genius. They were average Joes. How did they possibly think this was going to work?

"Have you ever been in a relationship with a woman?" he blurted out suddenly. _Oh smooth man, real smooth._

Maura looked surprised. "I... I don't understand. Is this pertinent to the case? Do we suspect that our victim, Miss Shumway, was in a lesbian relationship?"

"No, no... nothing like that. This is more... uh... personal."

Maura smiled understandingly at Frost and laid a gentle hand on his arm. Frost frowned back at her, suddenly realizing what she must be thinking. "Oh no, no, not me... I mean, it's really not, it's just... I..."

"It's okay, Detective Frost, it's completely understandable. I myself do not believe human sexuality to merely exist in shades of black, white and grey. I personally believe that sexuality comes in a million shades and hues: that no one can claim to be exclusively attracted to one single gender. Perhaps for some people, that person for whom they would consider as a potential life partner, whether it is the same sex or the opposite, depending on their believed and/or stated orientation, might be one person in a billion, but I believe it is true none the less. A million shades and hues, Detective Frost, remember that."

Frost took a deep breath and forced himself to be calm. "It's really not me, Doc."

"Oh," Maura replied, removing her hand as quickly as though it had been burnt, "right."

"But... have you?" Frost persisted. At the look on Maura's face, he added: "It _is_ important. I promise you that."

Maura pursed her lips and studied his face. "Okay. Okay, but you can_not_ tell Jane. Under _any_ circumstances."

"I won't." Maura glared at him. "I won't! I promise. What makes you think Jane would care anyway?"

"I'd just rather not find out if she cared or not," Maura stated, sighing heavily. "Yes. I've been in relationships with women."

"Relationships?" Frost's eyebrows shot up and he grabbed a chair, swinging his leg over to sit on it backwards. He rested his chin on the back rest and stared at Maura expectantly.

"There were two. One was in high school, and that relationship lasted for three months. Last time I saw her, she was happily married with two kids." Maura shook her head with a sad look on her face and continued. "The other one lasted for three and a half years."

"Three and a half years?!"

"Yes. It was... wonderful. I'd never felt about a man as I felt about her." Maura smiled sadly, then turned around to look at the body on her table. "She understood me better than anyone I had ever met. Knew how I struggled with people. Encouraged me to do what I'm doing now and told me I'd be brilliant at it."

"What happened?" Frost asked quietly.

Maura shrugged. "We decided to break it off. She was headed to Egypt to work in anthropology, I was coming here to... well, to do this. We parted amicably."

Maura smiled at him, then laughed wryly. "The funny thing is, only a couple of weeks earlier I was looking at wedding rings. I was planning on surprising her. Funny how these things work out, huh? I was even practicing my new signature when I took her name. Maura Bakker. I thought it had a nice ring to it."

"Yeah," Frost nodded, smiling back at Maura understandingly.

"It wouldn't have worked out anyway," Maura said and Frost looked at her sharply.

"Why not?"

Maura shook her head. "I guess I realize now that she didn't know me as well as she could have. And I didn't know her fully either." She huffed out a laugh. "I understand Jane in a lot of ways better than I did her. Anyway. I better get back to work. Tell Jane I said hi, okay?"

"I will Doc." Frost headed out the door and as soon as it shut behind him, he let out a little 'whoop' of joy. Bakker, anthropology, Egypt. It was a start, and what a start it was.

END CHAPTER FOUR.

_Please review :-)_


	5. Chapter 5

"Bakker, how did she spell it?"

"I don't know Korsak, I was lucky to get that much out of her!"

"Do you know a first name?"

Frost groaned in frustration. "I have told you what I know. Five. Times. Already. Are you going to help me or just keep asking useless questions?"

"Fine. You do the computer stuff then," Korsak huffed, sitting back and folding his arms.

"I was planning to. Can't trust you with 'the computer stuff' anyway." Frost started typing in random words on his search engine, ignoring Korsak's annoyed look.

"B-A-C-C-A... no... B-A-K-K-A... no... B-A-C-K-A... no..." Frost mumbled, peering at the screen. A few minutes later he found who he'd been looking for. "Ha! Got her! Victoria Bakker, B-A-K-K-E-R, anthropologist, studied at Boston Cambridge University and lived off campus with Maura for two years."

"You got her? Is there a photo? Let me see!" Korsak scrambles over to have a look over Frost's shoulder, and lets out a low whistle. "Damn."

Frost simply nods, as they both stare at the beautiful red haired woman on the screen. "Where is she at the moment?" Korsak eventually asks.

Frost gives himself a mental shake and starts reading. "You're not going to believe this. She's in Massachusetts next week. She's going to Pittsfield to some anthropologist convention."

"Pittsfield, that's, what... 2 and a half, 3 hours drive from here?"

"2 and a half according to Google," Frost agrees.

"I wonder how she'd feel about a little reunion," Korsak muses, and Frost grins.

"What do you say we find out?" he asks, holding up the phone and pointing at the screen, where Victoria Bakker's assistant's number was clearly listed.

_R&IR&IR&I_

Five days later, Jane and Maura were sitting in The Dirty Robber, celebrating their latest arrest and victory. "Cheers," Jane said, holding up her beer. She grinned when Maura clinked hers to it, and both women lifted the beers to their mouths. Maura, who was sitting facing the door, paused before the beer could make it all the way to her lips.

"Oh my God..." she mumbled, her gaze fixed on the doorway.

"What?" Jane asked, twisting around in her seat to see who Maura was looking at. A beautiful woman stood in the doorway, looking around the room as though searching for someone, and Jane instantly turned back to look at Maura, one eyebrow raised. Sure enough, Maura's gaze was fixed on the woman, and it didn't appear that she was going to be distracted anytime soon. "You're staring, Maura, quit it," Jane mumbled, eventually kicking her under the table when the mumbled words didn't get her attention. Maura shook her head, shot a quick glance at Jane as though in a daze, then stood up and waved at the woman. Jane blinked in disbelief.

"Maura girl!" the woman called out, heading over to their table and wrapping Maura up in what Jane thought to be a highly inappropriately lengthy hug. Maura didn't seem to mind though, curling her arms around the woman's back and even snuggling into the woman's hair a little bit and breathing deeply through the nose. Jane didn't allow the word 'smelling' to enter her mind, it just made her stomach do weird little clenchy things that she'd rather not think about.

"Victoria," Maura breathed, before pulling back and looking the woman, who was apparently called Victoria, up and down. "You look... wow."

"So do you, Maura. God, I swear you get even more gorgeous every time I see you."

Maura's eyes crinkled up in the corners as she stared up at this woman, and murmured, "Ditto."

Jane suddenly felt a need to make her presence known to this woman, who was still holding Maura in her arms. She leapt to her feet and held out her hand. "Hi. Jane Rizzoli, homicide detective."

"Oh," Victoria laughed, pulling away from Maura. "I'm so sorry; I'm not normally so rude. Victoria Bakker, anthropologist. I'm very pleased to meet you." Jane and Victoria shook hands, Jane gripping as tight as she could. She was pretty strong too, but Victoria didn't even flinch.

"Do you want to sit down with us, Victoria?" Maura asked, and Jane was forced to let go as Victoria turned to Maura and nodded. Jane rubbed her poor scarred hand as it ached, and she made a face at Maura who didn't even notice. She then pulled a face behind Victoria's back, and felt like stomping her foot when Maura didn't notice that either. Maura sat down and Jane watched with a frown as Victoria moved as though to sit next to her in the booth.

"Whoa, hey, sorry about that," Jane said, quickly swooping under Victoria's arm and throwing her off balance as Jane dived into the seat next to Maura. Maura shot her a look of confusion and anger as she quickly reached across the table to steady Victoria.

"Oh... um. No problem, Jane," Victoria mumbled, as she sat down on the opposite side of the booth. Jane smirked at her.

"So, how do you two know each other, anyway?" Jane asked, as she reached across the table to swipe her beer and take a chug.

"Well, we went to BCU together, didn't we Maura?"

Maura smiled and nodded. "Yes. We met in our advanced bio-chemistry class."

"And the rest, as they say, is history," Victoria smiled fondly at Maura, who flushed and looked down at her beer.

"So you guys were like, what, friends for a few years and then lost touch? Cause Maura, I don't remember you ever mentioning Victoria."

"Well, we were a bit more than friends, I'd say..." Victoria started, at the same time as Maura said:

"Yes, well, our lives went in separate directions..."

Both women stopped talking, as people are wont to do in those awkward conversation moments, then both tried to talk again at the same moment, and eventually they ended up laughing. Jane wasn't laughing though.

"What do you mean, 'more than friends'?" she asked Victoria icily.

"Well, I wouldn't call it a friendship when you live together and enjoy kissing and touching..." she started in a low, sultry voice but Maura immediately jumped in.

"We met in college, we were young... curious..."

"So it wasn't anything serious?" Jane asked Maura, feeling an odd sense of relief.

"Well... no... it was... it was pretty serious," Maura replied haltingly, and Jane froze.

"We were a couple for three and a half years," Victoria laughed, and Maura stared at Jane guiltily. There was one thing that she definitely did not miss about Victoria, and that was that no matter how often Maura told her how to read body language, she was simply clueless as to the reactions of people. And Maura could see right now that Jane was pissed off. She wasn't sure why, but she wanted to fix it.

"Our lives were headed in different directions. She was going to Egypt to be an anthropologist, I was coming here. We decided it wasn't going to work, and broke it off." Her voice had a pleading tone to it, but Jane seemed not to hear it.

"Were you in love," she asked flatly. It was phrased as a question, but spoken as a statement, which led Maura to believe she already knew the answer.

"Yes," she replied quietly. Jane nodded, silently picking up her beer and drinking half of it in one long swallow. Maura watched her sadly, but Jane refused to meet her gaze.

"What brings you back to Boston then, Victoria?" Jane asked quietly, and Maura winced slightly. She knew Victoria would miss the tone in Jane's voice, hell, probably even Korsak or Frost would miss it, but Maura could hear it. Jane was upset and angry. Jane felt betrayed.

"I have a convention to attend over in Pittsfield and I couldn't resist coming here for a visit when I knew I'd be so close." Victoria smiled cluelessly and Maura smiled at her fondly. She remembered loving her, loving the way she was so unbelievably dense about other people's mannerisms and moods, loving the way her hair would turn to molten gold in the sunshine and Maura's own heart would seem to skip a beat whenever Victoria even looked at her. She remembered it all with fondness, but a finality that was definite in its absoluteness. She had had something wonderful with Victoria, but it was over now. Now she had Jane. Maura's gaze turned soft as she thought of her best friend and she turned to look at her, just in time to see Jane's gaze flick from Victoria to Maura with a look of disgust on her face, obviously misreading both of their expressions.

"I'm outta here," she muttered, standing up and throwing back the rest of her beer. She chucked a twenty on the table. "Have fun."

"Jane. Jane!" Maura called, standing up as Jane stormed out of the bar. She sat back down with a heavy sigh as the door slammed shut.

"Wow. I'm sorry, Maura, I didn't realize your girlfriend would get so upset when she met me. Why didn't you tell her?"

Maura stared down at the table while she answered. "Jane's not my girlfriend, Victoria. She's just a good friend. I didn't tell her cause I was... I was scared. I didn't want her to hate me."

Victoria laughed, and the sound was so unexpected that Maura's gaze darted upwards immediately. "You always thought I was so clueless when it came to body language Maura, but now you are the clueless one."

"What... what do you m-mean?" Maura stumbled over her words, and it so rarely happened that Victoria took pity on her. She reached out and laid a hand over Maura's.

"I guess I have something to teach you now, huh?" she asked softly. "Jane loves you, Maura. It's obvious in her every movement, her every look. And you love her too."

"I... I don't know..." Maura stuttered nervously.

"Yes, you do." Victoria stared into Maura's eyes unblinkingly, and Maura felt her breathing quicken as she thought of Jane.

"Yes... yes I do. Oh my God, Victoria, I do! I love her." Maura trembled and she felt tears burning behind her eyes. "How did I not realize?"

"If it's any consolation, you both seem to be as naive as each other." Maura laughed at that, and Victoria picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles gently. "I have missed you, you know," she whispered.

"I know," Maura said, but she could not return the sentiment honestly, because she had truly not thought of Victoria in many years, ever since she met Jane. With the exception of her conversation with Frost of course.

Victoria patted Maura's hand gently and let it go. "I'm going to chase you out of that door soon, so that you can go chase after Jane, but first I want to show you my family."

Maura smiled as Victoria pulled out her purse and a small photo album that was attached. She flipped through the pages, smiling joyfully at the photos of Victoria and a black haired beauty on their wedding day, 'aww'ing at the pages of their adopted children. "That's my wife, Gabriella, and our children. The twins are called Sammy and Benji, and they are the two naughtiest, cheekiest, most beautiful toddlers in the world. And the little girl is called Annabelle, or 'Belli' for short. She's three, and wants to be a ballerina when she grows up."

"You have a beautiful family, Victoria," Maura murmured, tracing the faces of the children with her finger.

"I do, don't I?" Victoria asked, gazing at the photos lovingly, and then shutting the book with a snap. She stood up and pointed at the door, staring at Maura pointedly. "Now go chase yours."

Maura smiled up at her, and her eyes fluttered shut when Victoria knelt down to give her a kiss on the forehead. "Thank you," Maura whispered, standing up and reaching up on tiptoes to kiss her on the cheek.

"Anytime, my Maura girl," Victoria answered, long after Maura had already left and the door had swung shut behind her. She was filled with a sense of goodness, as though she had completed some great deed, and she couldn't help the smile that filled her face as she thought of her past with Maura, and her present with Gabriella and their three children. She hoped with all her heart that Jane and Maura would experience this same happiness soon.

Jane, who had been watching outside, fumed silently as she read the smile in a completely different way.

END CHAPTER FIVE

_hehe, cliffhanger. :-P Please review :-)_


	6. Chapter 6

When Jane left The Dirty Robber in a temper, she stomped over to the car, then decided she was too angry to drive away right now. So she did what she realized was probably a monumentally stupid thing, by turning the car around so that she was across the street from the bar, half hidden from sight. She then rummaged in her glove compartment for the binoculars that she knew were still in there from her last stake out. Refusing to let herself think about what a terrible idea this was, she lifted the binoculars to her eyes and trained them to the window where she could see Maura and Victoria sitting together. As soon as it came into focus, she gasped. Victoria was holding Maura's hand, and they appeared to be having a deep, loving conversation. Maura looked up at Victoria with tears in her eyes, and Jane clearly read her lips as saying the word 'love'. Her arms trembled but she pushed the binoculars even closer to her eyes so as to keep watching. Victoria kissed Maura's hand, then seemed to be showing her something. Jane's imagination went crazy as she thought about what it could be. Old love letters? Pictures of them as a couple? A wedding ring? Jane's hands tightened on the binoculars. Her grip loosened when Victoria stood up and appeared to be leaving, but tightened again when she bent down to kiss Maura on the forehead. Her gaze turned blood red however, when she saw Maura lean up to kiss Victoria on the cheek, and then leave the bar. She watched Victoria for a moment, waiting just long enough to see the stupid, self-satisfied smirk on the woman's face before she threw the binoculars down and threw the car into gear, peeling off down the street.

Maura came out of the bar just in time to see Jane's car speed away and she frowned, wondering why she hadn't left earlier, and why her car had been parked in a different position. Her hand lifted to her mouth as she suddenly realized why it could have been in a different place. When she crossed the street to stand where the car had been and confirmed her suspicion that it had a direct view to the window where she sat with Victoria, her heart sank with the realization that Jane had been spying. And, as Maura thought back over her conversation with Victoria, she also realized that nothing Jane had seen would exactly make her happy. The evidence to prove this, if any was needed, was in the way she sped down the street so haphazardly. Maura groaned and looked around helplessly. She'd come with Jane, so of course her car was back at Jane's place... Maura decided to hail a taxi, get her car and have a chat to her friend, not necessarily in that order. This plan in mind, she raised her arm at the oncoming traffic, slipping into the backseat when a taxi pulled up and giving them Jane's address. As she settled in for the short ride, she thought of Jane, and hoped her friend wasn't too mad at her.

The ride passed quickly, and seemingly before she knew it, she was at her destination. Maura paid the driver, hopped out of the car and stared cautiously at the stairs. She took a deep breath and headed up them, pushing open the door and heading to Jane's apartment. With another deep breath to fortify her nerves (and wishing desperately that she'd thought to finish her beer before she came here), she reached up and knocked at the door. Maura listened to the movement inside as it sounded like Jane approached the door, peeped through the hole and then hesitated for a while. Maura knocked again. When the door still failed to open, she started rummaging through her bag for her spare key. She had just found it and lifted it to the door when the door quickly swung open.

"That key is for emergencies only," Jane stated coldly, her arms folded as she leaned against the doorway.

"I wanted to talk to you," Maura replied, biting her lip and feeling her skin flush as she quaked under Jane's angry gaze.

"So talk."

Maura looked around the room, at Jane's face, but quickly lowered her gaze. "Can I come in?" One of Jane's arms uncrossed and she touched the side of the doorway she wasn't leaning against. It was an unspoken gesture that Maura needed no interpretation for: she was not invited in. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Victoria."

Jane scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Well, whatever. I'm surprised you two aren't back in her hotel room somewhere, having a bit of _fun_."

"No... no, that part of my life is over now."

"Sure didn't look over when you saw her tonight."

"But it is, Jane," Maura murmured, reaching out to lay a hand on Jane's arm. Jane shook it off with a look of disgust on her face and Maura fell back, the distress on her face evident. "Jane," Maura gasped, feeling tears building up in her eyes, "it is over with Victoria. It's been over for a long time."

Jane shook her head, her normally dark eyes seeming to turn blacker with rage as she stared at Maura, seemingly unaffected by her friend's tears. "Why didn't you tell me about her?"

"I... I don't know."

"Why, Maura?" Jane insisted.

"I... I was scared. I was scared you would hate me," Maura gasped, and the tears finally started sliding down her face.

Jane clenched her jaw and stared blankly over Maura's shoulder. "Why. Why on earth would you think... _why would you think I would hate you Maura?_" she forced out finally behind clenched teeth. "Why wouldn't you trust me? Do you have that low an opinion of me?"

"No! I just..."

"You know, I thought you were my friend, Maura. I thought we trusted each other enough to tell each other everything, and never worry about the other person hating us. I thought our friendship actually _meant_ something to you, just like it means to me. I guess I was wrong."

"Jane... it does mean... our friendship means the world..." Maura gasped, and Jane looked at her blankly.

"You have hives, Maura," she stated, and Maura's hand darted to her throat. "Gee, I wonder when you lied." The door slammed shut in Maura's face and Maura panted heavily as the tears streamed down her face. How on earth did things go so wrong in the course of just a few hours? She stumbled out to her car and sat behind the wheel, waiting for the tears to stop long enough for her to drive home.

Meanwhile Jane slid down behind the door, her chin on her knees and her arms wrapped around her legs and finally let the tears out. As she sobbed, she fell over and lay curled in the foetal position on the floor, not even moving when Jo Friday came over and concernedly started lapping at the tears on her face.

END CHAPTER SIX

_Short chapter this time, I know, and not my favourite. I hate it when Maura and Jane fight... even when it's just in my imagination! :-P Please review :-)_


	7. Chapter 7

"Wow. We are so screwed."

"Come on, what kind of attitude is that?" Korsak asked, throwing a ball up in the air and catching it repeatedly.

"Uh, a realistic one?" Frost said, watching the ball's repeated ascent and descent. Finally he snatched it out of the air and Korsak frowned at him, looking for all the world like a petulant child. "Look, our brilliant plan turned out to be not so brilliant," he murmured, mindful of the other cops in the room, some of whom were shooting gleeful looks in their direction, "We have two days to go before we lose the bet, and the doc and Jane _aren't talking to each other._"

"Yeah... what happened there anyway?"

"I don't know," Frost huffed in frustration. "All Jane will say is that it's nice to have friends she can trust, and when I asked the doc, she just pulled faces and told me she had to go to the bathroom."

Korsak frowned, then snapped his fingers. "Aha! Jane was jealous."

"Wha... huh?"

"Jane was jealous," Korsak repeated, leaning forward into Frost's space. "This beautiful, stunning woman comes in, she hugs Maura, Maura hugs back, and there's chemistry. They all start chatting, Jane finds out that this woman knows Maura, and I mean _knows_ as in the biblical sense, and suddenly she's seeing red."

"That still doesn't explain..."

"Come on, Frost, you didn't get to be a homicide detective by being an idiot. Jane's angry because Maura didn't trust her enough to tell her. Maura's angry because Jane has reacted the exact way she was scared she would. It's obvious."

"Who's jealous?" a familiar voice asked, and Korsak's eyes widened as he turned around to stare at Detective Jane Rizzoli. She had a look of polite curiousity on her face though, so both Korsak and Frost came to the happy realization she hadn't heard the whole conversation. Frost couldn't help but notice how sad her eyes had been lately, and he felt his heart break a little bit for her.

"Korsak was just going over the theory that our suspect may have been jealous of our victim's talent in the gymnastics field," Frost said quickly, off the top of his head, and Jane nodded thoughtfully.

"That makes sense," she said slowly. "Wait, Frost, didn't Dr Isles say that she found some material consistent with lycra in the victim's wound?"

Frost flipped through Maura's report. "Yes."

"Could be from the killer's costume..." Jane mused, suddenly standing up. "I'm just going to ask M... Dr Isles... um. Oh. I'm busy. Frost, I need you to ask Dr Isles to rerun the tox screen on the victim's blood."

"What are you thinking, Jane?"

"That she was drugged before she was stabbed, and that's why she made no noise," Jane murmured, staring at the picture of the smiling girl. She turned around to still see Frost standing there. "Go," she frowned at him.

"Oh! Oh, I can't."

Jane narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you mean, you can't?" she asked, and Frost floundered for a minute.

"He has a very important lunch date," Korsak piped up with, so Jane turned to him.

"Okay. So you can go down to see Dr Isles then."

Korsak opened his mouth and blinked owlishly. "I... uh..."

"He's invited to the lunch," Frost jumped in with. Jane stared between the two of them, her eyes narrowed and suspicious.

"Am I invited then?" she asked slowly, and Frost and Korsak stared at each other.

"No... it's... uh..." Frost started, looking at Korsak for assistance.

"It's about uh... stuff that is... uh..."

Jane raised an eyebrow at him and planted her hands on her hips while she waited.

"Stuff that is relevant to a case we worked on..." Korsak continued gamely, "a while ago. So it's just us. With the case." Frost nodded eagerly, and Jane stared between the two of them with her eyebrows raised.

"Fine," she snapped, grabbing the case file off the desk and storming away.

Frost and Korsak shrugged at each other, each feeling half guilty for lying, and half ecstatic that their plan had worked, then both men leaned around to see Jane stomp into the elevator and cross her arms petulantly as the doors closed.

"So, I'm wondering what to spend my $150 on..." Frankie mused, grinning over at the two detectives, who sent him identical annoyed looks.

"Don't spend your money yet. There's still two days left!" Korsak rumbled, and Frost rolled his eyes.

"Might as well give up," he said in an undertone. "Start counting the overtime hours."

Korsak simply looked at him, and, after a few seconds, started walking over to the elevators. He punched the down button, and looked over his shoulder at Frost. "You coming?"

"Where?" Frost asked, but headed over and walked in the elevator when it arrived anyway.

"Spying," Korsak grinned.

_R&IR&IR&I_

Jane had to stop outside the morgue and take a few deep breaths to centre herself before she felt able to enter. She told herself it was stupid, that up until a week and a half ago, Maura had been her best friend, but she couldn't deny the betrayal she felt when she found out about Maura's ex-girlfriend. She didn't allow herself to think about _why_ it hurt her so badly, just that it did: it allowed her to hold onto her righteous anger.

"Dr. Isles," she called loudly as she entered the morgue, schooling her face to ensure it was almost completely blank, with just a slight disdainfulness about it. Maura walked out of her office, and Jane's heart clenched when she saw Maura's red eyes and sad, downturned face.

"Hello Jane," Maura replied quietly. Jane froze. Up until that point, Maura had shown Jane every bit as much contempt and anger as Jane had shown her. Every snarky comment was met with another, each professional "Dr Isles" was met with a icy-cold "Detective Rizzoli" and every angry look was met with an even angrier one. Maura had not been pleased, once she calmed down after the initial argument, to have Jane throw the word 'trust' in her face, when Jane reacted the exact way that Maura had been afraid of. In fact, Maura had been angry, and not afraid to show it. But now... Jane faltered, feeling as though the playing field had been changed without her knowledge.

"Hi..." she replied softly, then shook her head and pushed on. "Dr Isles, I need you to run a further tox screen on the victim's blood." Maura said nothing, just stared at Jane. "We're looking for some kind of roofie. Something that will be hard to detect." Still Maura stared, and Jane felt her mouth opening and closing with nothing further coming out of it. Maura shifted her weight, and Jane detected movement, her eyes darting down to where Maura's arms were folded across her stomach. She was holding a photo frame beneath them.

"I was looking at our photos, Jane," Maura said softly, and Jane's gaze darted back up to her face. "The ones of you and me. Do you remember the photo your mum took of us before we did the marathon?"

"Puke..." Jane murmured, then felt like slapping herself for saying anything. Anger, damnit, anger was the emotion she needed right now!

"Yes," Maura smiled and sighed. "It was an unfortunate acronym. What about the one where we were at the coffee shop?"

Jane remembered. They had been giggling together, their heads leaned close and her mum had snapped the photo without either of them realizing.

"The one with the icecream cones."

"Jane remembered that one too. Her mum had snapped that photo too, when Jane had poked Maura in the nose playfully with her ice cream cone. The photo captured the moment perfectly mid-poke, Jane had been laughing and Maura's face was screwed up even as she smiled.

"This one is my favourite though," Maura continued quietly, pulling the photo away from her stomach and looking down at it. Jane craned her neck trying to see, but whether by accident or design, Maura shifted her weight again, thereby changing the angle so Jane couldn't see it.

"What one is it?" Jane asked, curious despite her best efforts to stay angry.

"We're not looking at each other. We're dirty, covered in dust and muck, and we're exhausted, both mentally and physically," Maura describes, continuing to look at the photo and not at Jane. "We're also holding hands, drawing comfort from each other without needing to express words." She looked up at Jane, who was taken aback at the pure emotion blazing out at her from Maura's eyes. "This is my favourite photo, because even though we're not smiling, or talking, or having fun, we're us, doing what we do best. Leaning on each other. Needing each other. Comforting, supporting, _loving_ each other." Each word is spoken like a blow, and Jane stares at Maura wide eyed. "Maybe you need to think long and hard about why you're really angry at me, Jane. Maybe you need to think long and hard about a lot of things. I know I should have had enough confidence in our friendship to tell you about Victoria, but there's a lot more to this than that, whether you want to believe it or not." Maura walked past Jane, pausing only to slap the photo frame into Jane's hands. Jane turned as Maura moved through the doorway, and stared as Maura stopped and turned her head to one side so that her profile was in plain view. "I need you, Jane, and you need me. I think that I've come to the realization about what this means for our relationship." Maura turned the top half of her body so she could look Jane in the eyes. "I will wait as long as it takes for you to come to the same conclusion. But please don't keep me waiting forever." Maura faced outward again. "I'm going home early today. Please say that I wasn't feeling well."

"O-okay," Jane replied, and as the sound of Maura's steps slowly fading, Jane stared at the picture, remembering the feeling of Maura's hand slipping into her own. Jane couldn't remember who instigated it, whose hand reached out first, but she did remember how right it felt. She looked up at the ceiling and breathed out slowly as she thought hard.

_R&IR&IR&I_

"Well, this is interesting," Korsak whispered to Frost. Frost said nothing, just rubbed his fingers and thumb together on one hand: the symbol for money. Korsak grinned at him.

END CHAPTER SEVEN

_Go Maura! One chapter left :) Please review :-)_


	8. Chapter 8

Maura was trying to tempt Bass with a strawberry when she heard the knock at the door. Wiping her hands on a tea towel, she headed over and opened it. Jane was there, and she was holding a box that was filled with photographs.

"We have a lot of photos together," she mumbled, not looking at Maura. Maura crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, feeling a strange sense of reverse déjà vu. "I was trying to find my favourite photo of us," Jane explained, and Maura raised an eyebrow silently. "I think I found it."

"Which one is it?" Maura asked, looking down at the box where photos were piled haphazardly.

Jane gestured towards the box.

"Which...?" Maura started, then, seeing the look on Jane's face: "No Jane, that defeats the purpose of choosing a favourite. You cannot choose to name every single photo a favourite of yours."

"Why not?" Jane asked, and kneeling down, she started pulling photos out. "Look at this one. You look like a dork in your weird baseball outfit, I look exasperated. It's my favourite because it's so... us. And you look so happy. And this one! You have your entire baseball team, and I'm looking frustrated because your team beat mine. It's my favourite because I remember how much you smiled that day. And then there's this one, you remember my high school reunion? I wasn't going to go but somehow you forced me to. It's my favourite because you were so excited about learning what co-ed would be like." Each photo was getting pulled out of the box and shown to Maura, then thrown aside in favour of the next one. "Then there's this one, where it's my birthday and you were so excited because you got me a present that I loved. It's my favourite because I remember how much effort you were spending trying to find something to please me. Then there's this one!"

"Jane, stop," Maura eventually said, as Jane seemed determined to go through every single photo in the box.

"No, Maura, listen! This one is during health week at work. I look exhausted because there's no coffee, but you look so happy because you live on all that health crap." Maura sighed, tilting her head on the side and opened her mouth as though to interrupt but Jane forged on. "And this one..." she paused as she stared down at the photo. She didn't know why this photo had been taken, or who took it. She didn't even know how she came to possess it, but it had still come to live in her box of favourites. Her finger traced carefully over the picture, over the bloody cut on Maura's throat. "This one is my favourite, because I remember how scared I was for my own life. But when Hoyt went over to you... I felt a... a terror that I didn't even realize was possible. And it gave me the strength to fight for both of us." Jane traced the curves of the beautiful face in the photo. "This one is my favourite, because it was at that moment that I realized that I would never be the same without you. That if you died, part of me would die too." Maura reached out and put her hand on Jane's, smiling softly at her. Jane dropped the photo back into the box and stood up, twisting her hand so that her fingers could slide between Maura's. "I realized something too," Jane murmured, and waited till Maura looked up at her questioningly. "I hate being hugged by anyone but you. And you hate being hugged by anyone but me."

"I..." Maura started, then fell silent, her gaze suddenly focused on their joined hands, where Jane had started rubbing lazy number 8's into the skin on the back of her hand.

"I never understood it. Never tried, really. I accepted that it was because you were my friend, and never tried to delve deeper than that." Maura looked up at Jane and Jane felt like she was falling into the depths of Maura's eyes. "I should have tried to delve deeper. I should have questioned, have asked myself why. But I didn't." Jane took a deep breath, as she prepared for the part of the conversation that she knew would be the hardest for her. "Maybe if I had tried, I wouldn't have freaked out so much when I met Victoria." Other than a slight narrowing of Maura's eyes, there was no reaction. "I... I hated her, Maura. Hated the way you looked at her, the way you hugged her. The way you touched her so easily... I thought you only touched me that way. I hated the way she called you Maura girl, and the way _she_ looked at _you_. When she told me you had been together... I don't know."

"Yes you do," Maura whispered, and Jane nodded.

"I felt awful. I did feel betrayed, but I didn't know why. It wasn't like I cared that you were bisexual or whatever. It was that you hadn't told me." Jane dropped her gaze. "It was that, I worried that because you hadn't told me, you obviously thought there would never be anything more between... between us. Or maybe you weren't interested." Maura's thumb had begun tracing identical figure 8's on the back of Jane's scarred hand, and Jane took courage from that, watching the slow continuous movement. "And when I watched you from outside, and I saw the way she held your hand and kissed it... and you kissed her cheek..."

"Victoria's married, Jane," Maura said, and Jane's eyes darted back up to hers. "She's married with three children."

"... Oh."

Maura smiled. "What you saw was Victoria telling me that I was in love with you and you were in love with me. If I remember correctly, she told me she was going to chase me out the door so I could chase after you."

Jane blinked several times. "Oh," she said again.

Maura huffed out a small laugh. "You were saying?"

"I... I don't remember."

"Was it important?"

"I think I said everything important."

"Good." Maura let go of Jane's hand and Jane barely had time to mourn the loss before that same hand and its twin were in Jane's hair, fingernails lightly grazing her scalp. Jane found her hands comfortably settling on a slim pair of hips, the box between their feet carelessly pushed aside, and Jane revelled in the feeling of rightness that surrounded the move. She looked in abject wonder at the beauty in her arms, and mused aloud.

"Why weren't we doing this all along?"

"Because you were talking," Maura replied. Jane's eyes lit up in surprised delight.

"You made a joke, Maura!" she exclaimed, leaning their foreheads together as Maura laughed proudly and when their lips finally met, it felt like the most natural move in the world.

_R&IR&IR&I_

Frost and Korsak were dying of curiousity. They had one day left before they lost the bet and they hadn't seen Dr Isles all morning, but Jane was looking suspiciously happy. "What's going on?" they asked her but she shook her head and said she didn't know what they were talking about.

"We need the doc up here," Frost said and Korsak agreed. Dr Maura Isles couldn't lie after all. If she looked happy too... well, they just needed to see her.

Finally at lunch their wish came true. Maura came upstairs and asked Jane if she would like to go for a cup of coffee.

"Sure, Maura," Jane replied, grabbing her coat, but Frost and Korsak immediately started questioning them.

"Jane?" Frost asked, looking at Maura.

"Maura?" Korsak asked, looking at Jane. "Are we on first name basis again then?"

Jane and Maura smiled at each other. "You could say that," Jane murmured.

"What happened, you two kiss and make up?" Frost laughed.

The sound was abruptly cut short when Maura replied, "Yes. Many times," unhesitatingly. Both Frost's and Korsak's jaws dropped as they looked from Jane to Maura and back again.

"Uh, Maura, when I said I wanted to tell everyone, I didn't mean right away..." Jane mumbled, flushing red as Maura walked over to stand by her side and threaded their fingers together. Soon it was their turn to look shocked as Frost and Korsak high-fived and the rest of the office groaned.

"What's going on?" Jane asked suspiciously, and Frost and Korsak immediately looked abashed.

"Nothing," Frost replied quickly. Jane lifted one eyebrow at him. "We might have... possibly... had a bet going on you two... when you would finally get together. And we won!" Frost couldn't help the grin that started to spread over his face.

"With one day to spare," Korsak gloated, suddenly yelling out: "Hey, Cavanaugh, got $100 lying around? Frost and I are having lunch and it's your treat!"

"Wait, wait, wait, you bet on us? Let me see the list."

"What list?" Korsak hedged, and this time Jane didn't even need to raise an eyebrow, just stared at him till he coughed it up. "Fine. Here."

She snatched the book out of his hand and took it over to Maura.

"Susie? Really?" Maura asked, as she trailed a finger down the page.

"Frankie... of course it was Frankie, who else? Detective Donaldson, well I'd suspect as much... Cavanaugh is at the top of the list, huh... wait, Angela Rizzoli? _Angela Rizzoli?_ My own mother bet on when we were getting together! And... _$400?!_" Maura started laughing and Jane glared at her. "It's not funny!"

"Oh yes it is," Maura gasped out between giggles. Jane tried looking strict, but Maura's giggles were contagious and soon she was laughing too.

"Fine, fine. But look, you cannot make my mother pay you out $400. Nor does Frankie owe you $150. Everyone else, I don't care about, but those two... huh uh."

"What, that's not f..." Korsak started but Frost threw out an arm and thumped him on the chest. Korsak stopped with a cough.

"That's fine, Jane, no worries," Frost said quickly. Jane stared between him and Korsak for a minute with narrowed eyes, then slapped the betting book onto Korsak's chest, who was forced to quickly grab it before it fell to the floor.

"I expect an all expenses paid dinner and drinks out of this too," Jane said, and Korsak nodded with wide eyes. "If you're going to bet on my personal life, I think that's a small price to pay."

"And new outfits," Maura piped up with. Jane rolled her eyes but agreed.

"And maybe a new wide screen TV?" Jane mused, looking at Maura as her eyes crinkled fondly.

"Don't push it," Korsak grumped while Frost laughed, Maura giggled and Jane mock-glared.

"You bet on my personal life. Don't you push it," she growled, and grabbed Maura's hand again, swinging it between their bodies. "Anyway. I'm taking my girlfriend out for a cup of coffee, and when I come back, I expect to hear no cat calling or lewd suggestions. Understood?" she called out to the office at general, watching as the cops all tried to look innocent and failed miserably. Jane turned to Frost who tried desperately to contain the twitching of his lips.

"Have fun," he told them, and as soon as their backs turned, he yelled out "To the doc and Jane, for finally getting their heads out of their asses!" Jane shook her head as the catcalls and cheers started behind them and pushed the button for the elevator.

"You knew the request for inappropriate comments was going to be ignored anyway," Maura stated, looking up at her new girlfriend.

"Yes, but it would have been nice if they waited a day or so," Jane muttered. Maura could see the grin playing about her lips though, and knew she wasn't too annoyed.

"A wide screen TV?" Maura asked after a few seconds, as they stepped into the elevator.

"Okay, maybe that was going a bit far, but I am going to make those guys pay for doing an office wide bet about us." Maura just smiled at Jane until Jane made eye contact, then she laughed.

"Why? They're happy, we're happy. We all win."

Jane shrugged, suddenly stomping her foot. "I can't believe they got my mother involved! She is not going to be popular when I see her next." Maura laughed again, reaching up and pulling Jane down for a sweet, gentle kiss. The doors opened and they quickly separated but still held hands as they headed for the nearest (good) coffee shop.

"Hey Maura, I did have one question though..." Jane started as they ambled along lazily.

"Yes, Jane?"

Jane turned to her, took both hands in her own and asked: "What's wrong with jello?"

Maura's face was a picture of puzzlement as Jane's mouth twitched. Jane watched as Maura's face lit up with sudden realization when she recalled the conversation which now seemed to be so long ago, and cracked up laughing when Maura frowned.

"It's just weird!" she said defensively and Jane stopped her in the middle of the street, wrapping her arms around the doctor.

"You're weird," she said affectionately, and Maura looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Good weird?" she asked tentatively.

Jane smiled. "Wonderful weird."

As they walked hand in hand down the street, turning into the coffee shop ("Oh man, I owe Korsak $200," the owner groaned as soon as they walked in), Jane thought about the wonderful twists of life. The amazing doctor was hers, every weird, fruity, health-nutty, genius, adorable, goofy bit of her, and even if it took them a while to wake up to their love, Jane was determined that not another minute would be wasted.

And the next time Maura played doctor with Jane, Jane was determined it wouldn't be because she was sick.

"The usuals," she said to the person behind the counter, rapping her hand down firmly on the counter as Maura stood beside her.

"You're very lucky," the young guy replied quietly, and Jane smiled as she felt Maura wrapping around her from behind.

"I think we both are," Maura murmured.

END

_Awww kisses and snuggles and DAMNIT THIS IS THE WAY THE SHOW SHOULD BE. Ahem. Anyway. I've loved posting this and seeing your reactions... and at the beginning I replied to everyone's reviews and then I thought pfft I'm too lazy for that so I'll take this opportunity now to say **THANK YOU**! to everyone for all your thoughts, reviews, favourites and follows. If anyone has any other ideas for stories, feel free to leave a comment and I'll see which plot bunny takes my fancy :-) Much love to all xoxo -tika12001_


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